hallamblue
Player Valuation: £50m
He could probably do with a move abroad to a less physical league. Sad for him and us because he's the classiest centre half we've had in a very long time.
kiss the crest
Player Valuation: £35m
I have an idea why dont we sign better defenders around him so he doesn't have to do the work of 2 or 3 players when they lose possession or are out of position
ToffeeScot
Player Valuation: £25m
I think he'd be brilliant in Serie A. Slower pace and he'd dominate that league.
NilSatisOptimum
Player Valuation: £70m
Another hamstring after complicated surgery on failing hamstring.... Be fully on board with optimism if it were unrelated injury!
kiss the crest
Player Valuation: £35m
I don’t think it’s that simple sadly mate. He’s a human being and even the best paid medical treatment in the world won’t be able to turn him into the bionic man.
Unfortunately we can’t make any plans or bank on what would happen if we’d had Branthwaite on the pitch because he is a crock. Any minutes he plays for us are a bonus.
KevMirallas
Player Valuation: £35m
That's definitely how we need to treat the next couple of years at least. Plan for him not to be there (which means we need to improve the CB position and find a RB so O'Brien can fully become a CB) and if he happens to solve his issues, so much the better.
If he misses another preseason, which looks pretty likely, he's just on a hiding to nothing again. A young athlete with these sort of recurring problems very rarely get better by chasing it.
Senesi and stones would go a long way to securing us at the back...
Senesi,stones. Branthwaite, obrien and tarkowski offers us an ideal blend of robustness, pace and solidity at the back
Senesi,stones. Branthwaite, obrien and tarkowski offers us an ideal blend of robustness, pace and solidity at the back
I don't think that's saving his vulnerable hamstrings mate. He'll need to run in any case.
Vaughan
Player Valuation: £35m
no muscle injury is bad luck. it happens for a reason, whether thats fatigue, overloading, weak muscle, tight muscle, a muscle that is overcompensating for a another muscle thats not working as well etc
the only injuries that are bad luck/chance are the likes of betos on sunday that come from collisions. even then one could argue that’s the risk of challenging for a ball
but yeah, hamstrings don’t just pop for no reason. i learnt this the hard way.
craig bellamy had hamstring injuries all through his early career but managed to curb them under the guidance of Steve Fudge who was the S&C coach at City under Mark Hughes
he set up a training plan that involved bellamy training predominantly as a footballer who sprints, rather than as a footballer who runs 10k a game, if that makes sense
gone was the heavy cardio work and volume, instead he trained to sprint and recover. i think his minutes were managed too, he was no longer a 90 minute player. but he got a good few more years and at times produced the best football of his career
Fudge went on to coach the likes of James Dasaolu and Adam Gemili, who had injury problems of their own, to run sub 10 second 100m times when he switched to coaching in track and field
Branthwaite will need someone just as smart looking after him now
NathDogg
Player Valuation: £60m
I get both your points, but I’m not prepared to give up just yet. He’s too good a player for that.
Yes, it’s really concerning & gutting that it’s the same injury, and he looked broken going off, but let’s hope the club can get him the very best medical care and help him as much as possible.
It may be of no use, but I want us to try and I want to give the lad a chance before I scrap him.
I also agree that we need strengthening at cb and across the back 4 in the summer, to aid his recovery, so we don’t need to rush him back.
